What real caboose is the K-Line Center Cupola Caboose based upon?

[Andrew Falconer]

What real caboose is the K-Line O Gauge Center Cupola Caboose based upon?

From photos and real cabooses, my guess is a Cheapeake & Ohio Caboose.

Has the K-Line Center Cupola Caboose ever been decorated with the Chesapeake & Ohio paint schemes? I have never seen one with a C&O paint scheme.

Does anyone know the real caboose series they are based upon.

Andrew

[Dr. John]

Andrew,
I believe that K-Line updated the Kusan caboose. As to the prototype, it looks like an amalgamation of a northeastern caboose, C&O and even one used by the ACL. Not sure if K-Line ever did one in the C&O.

[brianel027]

Yes, K-Line did make their standard Kusan-based caboose in C&O: it came in a C&O steam set. It was red with yellow lettering. The same caboose also came in a later issued C&O MP-15 diesel freight starter set.

I did have one at one time. Actually I still do, but I repainted to one of those modern roads K-Line chose to ignore: CONRAIL!

Well, save for the uncataloged employee only, safety award Conrail items... another one of K-Line's dumb marketing moves.

[Andrew Falconer]

The K-Line Center Cupola Caboose is more authentic in appearance than the Lionel Center Cupola Caboose for most roads.

Thankfully, Lionel will still produce it as show by the K-Line by Lionel Caboose in the 2006 Volume 2 Catalog. Now, I wonder if $39.99 is just the cost for the special edition, or the standard price for now.

Andrew

[Andrew Falconer]

The Atlas HO TrainMan line has a nearly identical caboose. This is the source for the TrainMan HO Scale Caboose.

The first all-steel cabooses built for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad were produced in 1937 by the Magor Car Corporation in Clifton, N.J. Magor, along with St. Louis Car Company and ACF, ultimately built a total of 350 cabooses for the C&O using a similar design. The last were produced in 1949. Through subsequent rebuilding and modernization, many remained in service through the end of regular caboose usage in the 1980s. Cabooses of a similar design were also built for Pere Marquette, Missouri Pacific and Chicago & Eastern Illinois.

 

Andrew Falconer

[Andrew Falconer]

Seeing that Lionel has some connections with Atlas, the people at Lionel will likely be making the K-Line Center Cupola Cabooses in accurate schemes based on the same source material that Atlas is using for the similar TrainMan HO Scale Cabooses.

Andrew

[Andrew Falconer]

There is a new ATLAS O Mini-Catalog.

It shows that planned for the Industrial Rail Line is a C&O Center-Cupola Caboose.

This will compete with the K-Line/Lionel Caboose and the Ready-Made-Toys Caboose.

Atlas O will most likely offer it in every single C&O paint scheme since they have a licencing agreement with CSX.

Andrew Falconer